National League summit is still very much in sight

Tranmere Rovers coach James Quinn seen here in action for Northern Ireland against England

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Coach James Quinn reckons supporters should not write of Tranmere’s promotion prospects, because the best is yet to come from their team.

The former Northern Ireland international front man also believes some of the 11 teams currently running ahead of Rovers in the National League table won’t get any better as the campaign approaches the half way point.

Quinn admits the group of players put together at Prenton Park during the summer have not clicked as a unit as quickly as manager Gary Brabin and his staff had hoped.

After losing four out of the last five league games, Tranmere have dropped 13 points adrift of leaders Cheltenham Town and six points off the play-off zone.

But Quinn is confident performances and results will turn for the better.

He said: “There’s a lot of teams above us at the moment who I think are at their best. It’s as good as they are going to get.

“With us, we have not been at our best yet. If it clicks, sorry when it clicks, then I think we will start seeing an improvement in results.

“At the moment it’s not going for us but we are not depressed about it.”

Quinn points out that Tranmere began preparations for their first ever season in the National League with barely half a dozen players on the books.

“It’s no surprise that maybe it has taken a little bit longer for us to settle as a team,” he said.

“I don’t think that every single department in our team have played to the top of their ability at the same time.

“It’s been a case of the back four doing brilliantly on one day, or the midfield on another, or the strikers on another. We have not all clicked as a team.

“I think it will happen. The players are too good for it not to come together. When we do, I think we will be difficult to stop.”

Quinn said he had not expected Tranmere to be among the front runners at this stage after building a squad almost from scratch on the back of successive relegations

“It was always the case we would be in the chasing pack,” he said.

“We are going after a lot of teams who’ve been together for longer than us.

“We have had bad luck with injuries, here, there and everywhere, which have disrupted the continuity in the team.

“We would like to be higher in the table but this still a long way to go. We are set up to be stronger in the second half of the season.”

He added: “The teams at the top have been putting out quite consistent sides. Their starting XIs are not changing that much. But some of those teams have hit their peak already I believe.

“We haven’t hit ours and we still have 26 games to play.”

Tranmere’s backing through the turnstiles this season has been nothing less than brilliant, according to Quinn.

Rovers are averaging better than 5000 for National League home games at Prenton Park in spite of back-to-back relegations in the past two seasons.

Quinn said: “When I was working in the USA and looking at this club from afar last year, I could not believe what I was seeing when the results and the league tables came up.

“I saw the club slide and slide. It’s very difficult to put a halt to that and even more difficult to turn it around.

“The fans have been brilliant for me. They stuck with us. I think they know we are going to get better. We know we are going to get better.”